UCD 0 - 2 Shelbourne

Ten men Shelbourne picked up all three points in Belfield as they ruthlessly brushed UCD aside 2-0 on Friday evening. Goals from Philly Gorman and David Cassidy either side of the dismissal of Sean Byrne ensured Alan Matthew’s men secured a well-earned away victory.

In a game of few goalmouth incidents, the visitors hit the front straight from the kick off as Hugh Douglas’ early lapse in concentration allowed former Student Paddy Kavanagh to find the unmarked Philly Gorman to slot home from a couple of yards out inside twenty seconds of referee Alan Kelly blowing the first whistle.

UCD never seemed to recover from the early setback despite having a man advantage for most of proceedings. Sean Byrne lost possession on the left flank and in an attempt to regain the ball, lunged in on Mark Langtry with referee Kelly deeming it to be a reckless challenge and sending Byrne for a very early shower.

As a result of the sending off, Alan Mathews introduced Barry Clancy for the unfortunate Philip Hughes but the Students still manage to carve open the Shels rear guard as Paul O’Conor found acres of space in the box but couldn’t beat Dean Delany. That was as good as it got for Martin Russell’s men in what turned out to be a half of few chances. Chris Lyons and Samir Belhout worked tirelessly up front but reaped little or no reward from either Andy Boyle or Brian Shortall at the heart of Shelbourne’s back four.

In fact it was the ten men who nearly doubled their lead as a free kick from Barry Clancy was headed back across goal at the back post for Gorman to poke home but the ball had already gone out according to the referee’s assistant.

In an attempt to change the game, Russell made two half time changes with Cillian Morrison and James Kavanagh, brother of Paddy being introduced for Samir Belhout and Hugh Douglas respectively but little changed in the second period with the home side inevitably dominating large spells of possession but failing to create any clear cut opportunities.

Once again it was the visitors who looked more likely as they hit the hosts on the break on numerous occasions. Mark McGinley’s poor clearance fell to the feet of the impressive Paddy Kavanagh but he dragged his shot just wide with the goal at his mercy.

Paul Corry tested the handling of Shels ‘keeper Delany with a stinging long range effort but moments later it was 2-0. Anto Murphy’s low cross from the left was flicked on by Gorman at the near post to allow the onrushing David Cassidy tap the ball into the empty net as UCD were horribly exposed at the back in search of an equaliser.

Despite leading by two goals, Alan Mathews wouldn’t have been taking anything for granted with twenty five minutes remaining, especially considering UCD’s stunning second half comeback in Tallaght last week but Shels defended resolutely as the home side threw the kitchen sink at the ten men. Paul O’Conor was denied a clear goal scoring opportunity with a last ditch challenge by Andy Boyle in the last ten minutes, a tackle which summed up their professional performance.

In the end, Shelbourne saw the game out comfortably to give them a much deserved victory which sees them move to 18 points from their opening eleven games.

UCD: Mark McGinley; Hugh Douglas (James Kavanagh 45), David O’Connor, Mick Leahy (c), Danny Ledwith; Mark Langtry, Paul Corry, Paul O’Conor, Samir Belhout (Cillian Morrison 45); Graham Rusk (Robbie Benson 81), Chris Lyons.

Subs Not Used: Niall Corbett, Ciaran Nangle, Gary Burke, Barry McCabe.

Bookings: Douglas (25), Lyons (40).

Shelbourne: Dean Delany; Gareth Matthews, Andy Boyle, Sean Byrne, Brian Shortall; David Cassidy (Kevin Dawson 73), Glenn Cronin, Paddy Kavanagh, Anto Murphy (John Sullivan 65); Philip Gorman, Philip Hughes (Barry Clancy 16).

Subs Not Used: Paul Skinner, Ian Ryan, Conan Byrne, Paul Byrne.

Bookings: Cassidy (49), Clancy (63).

Sending Off: S Byrne (13).

Referee: Alan Kelly.

Attendance: 602

Extratime.ie Man of the Match: Paddy Kavanagh (Shelbourne) - He tormented his former side throughout the evening and laid the opening goal on a plate for Gorman in the opening minute.